Core Concepts
The why behind Archon. Read these to understand what the framework believes, how it models the cognitive loop, and which concrete pitfalls each mechanism is designed to catch.
Reading order
If you have 10 minutes: read just the 10-Minute Overview.
If you have an hour: read in this order:
- 10-Minute Overview — the shape of the system.
- The Five Pillars — each home-page promise (cognitive loop · mechanical gates · persistent state · preservation axis · ownership contract) expanded into its core idea and the shipped file or contract clause that actually enforces it.
- User Journeys — 16 real pitfalls of AI-assisted coding, mapped to the mechanisms that catch each one. This is the best "why" document if you want to feel Archon's problem-fit before committing.
- Architecture Reference — the complete structural description: cognitive loop · delivery lifecycle · constraint pyramid · preservation axis · claim verifier · sub-agent delegation · state memory.
- Architecture Decisions — every ADR, in order, with the trade-offs and re-evaluation triggers.
For the operational view — every route a session takes, in order, with the mechanical gate at each step — read Lifecycle & Sequence Chains.
If you want the full Archon introduction as originally written for adopter projects: Introduction (full README).
Deeper dives
For specific mechanisms or comparisons:
| Page | Why you might read it |
|---|---|
| Drift Mechanism | How the drift counter · mechanical floors · dynamic thresholds · log compression work. |
| Model vs. Harness | Why stronger models do not remove the need for an engineering environment. Six-question frame. |
| Product-Architecture Workflow | Product-facing workflow: new-project onboarding · existing-project intake · demand execution boundaries. |
| Superpowers Comparison | Comparative analysis against the Superpowers framework — anti-rationalization, systematic debugging, sub-agent cost awareness. |
| Refactoring Adoption | Distilled refactoring discipline (two hats · rule of three · gradual replacement · tempo · characterization tests). |
| Formwork Adoption | Evaluation of Formwork (structural guards) — what Archon already covers (preservation axis · claim verifier · constraint pyramid), and the one new surface: guards over adopter product code. |
Next step
Once you understand the concepts, move to Install & Boot to scaffold a project, or jump to Full Source to read every file Archon ships.